NOGALES, AZ — Working in an international border town representing a produce trade that can have an annual value as high as $3 billion can be a daunting task.

Such is the career of Allison Moore, director of legislative and regulatory affairs for the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. Moore calmly takes countless matters in stride, one at a time.

When she recently sat with The Produce News to describe her responsibilities, first on her list was working with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration on the proposed regulations for the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Of key importance to the U.S. companies in Nogales, which FPAA represents, is the Foreign Supplier Verification Program, which requires that importers verify the food-safety practices of their exporting suppliers. “I go through the proposals and work with our members on comments” to share with FDA on the proposed regulations, she said. Moore asks members what portions of the legislation they may like, or “what they don’t like, in the real world sense.”

Moore collaborates with industry allies at the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, United Fresh, the Produce Marketing Association and in the Mexican government to suggest to the FDA, “If you do this, it may be more effective.”

The second item Moore brings up as an FPAA priority is her work for funding appropriate staffing at ports of entry with Mexico. She described these ports as “economic engines for our country.”

When Moore lobbies for this funding she notes U.S. Customs staffing improves two-way trade between the United States and Mexico. “I work with customs to make sure that Congress knows the needs of the agency. And to make sure that Congress knows that this is an economic generator.”

She said, for example, that Mexico is a major market for Detroit automakers. A border that functions efficiently will boost jobs in Michigan. “We tell Congress ‘This is the need. It is not just border security!’ “

She also works with congressional leaders in Arizona to clarify that a well-tooled border “is a selling point for the state. It is important in the supply chain for a lot of companies.”

Moore also promotes the concept that a boosting of the Mexican economy can bring jobs back from Asia to the Americas.

Moore’s work is also to be an ally of the Arizona Department of Transportation, which must have the funding to improve Nogales’ truck flow of to efficiently get 1,200 trucks to produce warehouses and beyond each day.

The produce coming through Nogales is perishable and the distributors need to load to please their customers “and not load tomorrow because the line was so long,” Moore said.

Legislators “need to understand that these are not just roads, but contribute to economic development. They create more efficiencies and better access to the state.”

Moore has worked with U.S. Customs & Border Patrol to do more work on Sundays to more effectively move produce trucks into the United States. Nogales’ new port of entry, which is almost complete, brings many efficiencies that will expedite the process. “This is the flagship port of the entire country,” she noted.

Moore said that the combined numbers of CBP, police and Drug Enforcement Agency personnel give Nogales the most law enforcement personnel per capita of anywhere in the world.

Therefore, Moore and virtually everyone else interviewed here by The Produce News said that they feel extremely safe in the Nogales area. Moore noted that Mexico’s GDP growth rate is double that of the United States. “It’s off the charts. There is a captive audience of a growing middle class. They have money to spend in the U.S.”

Mexican visitors are already spending $7.2 million a day in Arizona.

She said it is important this concept is understood not only by legislators in Arizona and Texas, but on the national level.

“Are you going to build trade and tourism, or are you going discourage people from coming here? Is it easier for them to fly to Las Vegas, or drive into Arizona? If you make it too onerous, they will stop coming or stop coming four times a year and maybe just come twice.”